Karen Batra is Director of Food & Agriculture Communications, and has worked for BIO since 2008. Having lived in the Washington, D.C. area for more than 20 years, Karen has worked for four major national trade associations specializing in communications and media relations, most recently at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

What Karen likes best about BIO, aside from her uber-talented colleagues, is working to promote a technology that truly helps to heal, feed and fuel the world. In the food & ag sector, we aim to help farmers do what they do best – grow the most abundant, most affordable and safest food supply in the world.

Karen’s favorite biotech food is papaya, and her favorite genetically engineered animal is the spidey-goat. Karen also has two Glofish, Redfish and Bluefish, who live with their non-biotech cousin, Peachy the Snail.

Latest Posts

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says the world needs to boost agriculture production by 60 percent to meet its estimated food needs over the coming decades. This is not a new concern for the world agriculture and food production community. On October 30, 2011, our world’s seventh billion person was born. Of these 7 billion, close to a billion are chronically undernourished and another billion are malnourished, according to the United Nations. Read More >

As many state legislatures have concluded their sessions, one might think the debate around GMO labeling legislation would fade. But now, new ballot initiatives are raising their heads. Backers of a state-wide initiative in Oregon that would require labels for foods containing GMOs turned in more than 155,000 signatures last week, virtually guaranteeing a spot on the November ballot. Likewise in Colorado, a labeling proponent group has gathered at least 75,000 signatures, nearing the 86,105 Read More >

General Mills made headline news when it announced it would re-label its original Cheerios and source the cereal’s tiny amount of sugar and corn starch from non-GMO crops. Some in the industry accused General Mills of caving into consumer paranoia about GMOs in foods, a new trend in the food manufacturing and retail arenas. Following General Mill’s example with Cheerios, Post did the same for its Grape-Nuts cereal, and Smart Balance for its butter-like spreads. Read More >

As a communications director in the agriculture industry, I have spent two decades using fact-based talking points while industry opponents can say whatever will make a headline. It’s frustrating, but we labor on because we believe that what we do somehow helps farmers. And if we can help farmers, we can help keep America’s food supply safe, affordable and the envy of the world. Holly Spangler, an ag communicator and Illinois farmer, clearly understands this Read More >

I’ve heard the word “momentum” a lot lately. Vermont signed its GMO labeling law on May 8. Voters in Jackson County, Oregon this week approved a ban on GMO cultivation, a move that will dictate to area farmers what they can and can’t grow. And just today, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) shepherded through the Appropriations Committee an amendment to mandate the labeling of the genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon, when it is approved by the FDA. Read More >